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Bruzer - 1982 Round 1
 BRUZER - ROUND ONE (1982, HANDSHAKE) Paul Frank - vocals Rick Ramirez - guitars Jeff Steele - bass Mitchell Froom - keyboards Vinny Appice - drums Background An interesting collection of players hooked up for this shortlived outfit called Bruzer. Not really sure what the driving force behind this band was, but some of the personnel came with a pedigree. Ramirez was better known through his equally shortlived exploits with Seattle based Striker who released a one-off album for Arista during 1978. In fact prior to Bruzer, Ramirez was skulking around with Angel's Frank Dimino and UFO's Paul Paymond in a band that would eventually be called The Ruffians. He quit that association once Bruzer had sewn up a recording deal. Elsewhere, Appice was previously with Rick Derringer and associated band Axis, while Froom, became better known through his association with Ronnie Montrose and Gamma (refer their 'Gamma 3' album), and then into the 90's with Australasian band Crowded House. The Songs Musically, it was all typical radio rock from the era, though the lead vocals from Paul Frank is an interesting listen, from the Frankie Miller, Steve Marriott school of vocalists I would suggest. This might very well be his band, but 'Round 1' sank like the proverbial stone, and was a commercial flop. In some parts they sound like Aerosmith, Billy Squier and a poor mans Led Zeppelin, in other instances they sound like some early British blues based bands, but the attempt to make this sound fresh and exciting didn't quite make it. One can only assume that the success of a US based act like Billy Squier may have been instrumental in their signing by Handshake. However not to write the whole thing off, some tracks work, like the intro power pop of 'Something Good' with its smokin' guitar solos, or the very Led Zeppelin sound 'Move Over'. They even deliver the track 'What Love Is', better remembered as the track appearing on the Cobra 'First Strike' album the following year. In Summary As mentioned, Bruzer didn't amount to much in the end, the members moving on elsewhere once it became known that this album wasn't going anywhere fast. Appice moved on to Dio, and Froom to Gamma. Unfortunately Bruzer would not even rate a mention for a CD re-release, the material just not doing enough to make for repeat listening unfortunately. Track Listing: 01 Something Good 02 What Love Is 03 Desperation Girl 04 Tell Me 05 Optimistic Man 06 Carrie 07 Hot Rod 08 Take A Chance 09 Love You Madly 10 Move Over Related Articles: N/A Copying of material without permission is not permitted. Posted by gdazegod
on September 25, 2005 ·
2 Comments ·
1663 Reads ·
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